


Gargano: Reawakening

by Enigma13



Series: Superhero AU WWE Stories and One Shots [4]
Category: Professional Wrestling, World Wrestling Entertainment
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Enemies to Lovers, F/M, superhero au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-25
Updated: 2018-02-10
Packaged: 2018-12-06 22:29:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 9,582
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11610252
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Enigma13/pseuds/Enigma13
Summary: On forced Sabbatical from the Sentinels, common man Johnny Gargano is in a slump. He still has all his arrows in his quiver, but still reeling from an earlier heartbreak, something happens that has him breaking some rules to follow his gut. An adventure that he never thought he'd have could change his life and his future.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So, it's been a while, eh? I got a good first chapter here and I'm super pumped for this. It does tie in with the greater story, but this isn't an origin story like the others. This is simply a story about an everyman. I know what a lot of people would say, but I couldn't help but model Johnny off of Hawkeye. I feel like he's an every man that really benefits from just being a non super powered entity protecting the streets. I hope you enjoy this!

Johnny groaned as his phone buzzed violently on his bedside table. Couldn’t they give him a break? He threw a pillow over his face, after glancing over and seeing Finn’s name on the caller ID. Finally, he threw his arm out to get it and pressed it to his ear. “What?”

“I know the situation isn’t exactly ideal, but that’s no way to treat a friend.” Finn’s friendly voice sounded from the other side of the call.

“I’m really hung-over, so I’ll talk to you how I want till I have my coffee. Plus, you aren’t my team leader anymore, so.”

He heard Finn sigh on the other end of the phone call. “You know that’s not accurate, Johnny. You’re just on sabbatical.”

He rolled over, seeing the clock flashing twelve o’ clock at him mockingly. “Forced sabbatical.” He countered, pushing himself out of bed, trying to not step on any arrows he’d left on the floor. 

“Well, you can’t be leaving your post. We trust you enough to cover our backs, we expect you to have them.” Finn was obviously pinching the bridge of his nose. Johnny knew that any argument he gave wouldn’t be good enough for the Demon King. He’d already tried to fight the sabbatical a month ago to no avail, but he still felt the bitterness coursing through him so he tried anyway.

“Tommaso was going for those civilians and you know it. We save people, Finn, that’s what we’re supposed to do.”

“And the fact that it was Tommaso had nothing to do with the situation.”

Johnny sighed. “Fine, I’ll give you that, but I was still right. You guys always do this! It’s always me held to the double standard because I don’t have any crazy powers. Give me an honest answer; if Roman or Drew did this, would they have been forced to go home for a month while they were evaluated? No! It’d been a week tops.”

“Johnny…”

“Save it.” He ended the call and slumped down at his kitchen counter. He’d been the first non-super powered person allowed on the Sentinels and they treated him like this… He was there for a reason. He shot better than any person on the planet with a bow and arrow. Plus, no one was better at tactics than him. And yet, he was seen as the weak link. Fuck that and fuck them.

He stood up and pressed the button on the coffee maker to make it do its thing. It whirred to life and he reached up and got his only remaining mug from the top cabinet. It was chipped and it was his and he loved it dearly. Time to pour some scalding hot swill into it and wake up a bit, despite him knowing he wasn’t going to be doing anything today. Stupid sabbatical.

He wouldn’t lie. The fact that it had been Tommaso, the psycho killer himself, that was going after the civilians made his decisions slightly easier, but who cared about their history? Was it really that hard to do the right thing? Was it really so bad to try to save innocent lives? It wasn’t like the Sentinels were complete wimps, and just because they were facing Owens, and Generico was a little moodier than usual because his ex had a temper tantrum again downtown, didn’t mean that he couldn’t go and do something other than sniper cover. They limited him to that role because they didn’t trust him; it was a simple as that.

He grimaced and laid his head down in his arms, which were folded on his cluttered island counter. His apartment was a mess of arrows, papers, beer bottles, and pizza boxes. He’d not handled this well. He was used to working and the fact that he couldn’t even enter the Sentinel building to practice shooting really irked him. 

The coffee maker buzzed and he poured it into the mug. He raised it to his lips but before it could get there the handle broke off, letting the rest of the mug shatter on the floor and the coffee quickly splattering everywhere. Johnny just stared at the remaining handle in his hand sadly. He let it drop to the floor and turned around to lean against the counter. “Dammit…” What a way to sum up his last month. He simply took the coffee pot, now only half full and drank it straight from there. It burned his throat but he couldn’t bring himself to care. He stepped over the smashed mug and decided that he’d pick that up later when he wasn’t feeling like such a shit pile in pajamas. 

He glanced down at the dirty floor and groaned, under a cracked picture frame was a picture of him and Tommaso from a long time ago; when they were happy. He’d forgotten that he had any left. He stooped to pick it up, not feeling anything but anger at the sight of it. He hummed and was about to rip it when he caught sight of his bow, leaning against the couch. He bit his lip before grinning. Stop him from shooting at the building, well he knew how to pick locks and the roof was so rarely used. Maybe it was time to vent some anger from his job and personal life at once. Maybe it was time to get his mojo back before he figured out how to handle this whole sabbatical nonsense again with a clearer head. He grabbed his bow and a handful of arrows and sprinted up the stairs to the roof without realizing he was still in his boxers and T-shirt from the night before.

 

He didn’t realize that he shot for so long. He wasn’t really planning on spending his entire day, but when he finally came out of his Zen-like state on the rooftop it was dark. He looked down at his fingers; luckily the blisters from his years of shooting were still there even after a month off, stopping his fingers from bleeding with all the arrows he shot into Tommaso’s stupid, bearded face. He sighed and went to pluck his arrows out of the wall, slipping them into his quiver that he’d run in and got a couple arrows ago. He was now dressed, jeans and a T-shirt, after a couple catcalls from the street below when he’d walked to retrieve arrows. He didn’t give that kind of show for free after all.

A flash of almost white caught his attention from the corner of his eye. He looked down to see a beautiful, almost platinum haired woman walking down the street. She was across, nearing the old army surplus store that was barely open anymore. Johnny went there to shop sometimes for gear that he could piece together into something usable; not like the Sentinels paid very well, especially to a non-super. He watched her, she was a beautiful woman after all, and it wasn’t creepy, he was just appreciating her beauty. He wouldn’t catcall or say anything, but he was a human bisexual male. He had to live a little right?

However, something in her behavior was odd. He could tell that she was looking up and down the street with a similar way that he would when he was sniping. She was scanning for something and when she passed another man, her hands came out of her pocket and when Johnny blinked she was gone. Simply gone. His eyes were great; 20/20 vision, but she wasn’t even there any more. He crouched low and scanned the entire street twice more before finally, he caught a flicker of her hair again. She was on the far side of the surplus store, near a high window. As he watched she scaled up the wall with little effort and while hanging on the ledge with one hand, on her fingertips, her other hand came in, picked the lock and threw the door open with ease. And now, with his eyes focused on her, he watched her disappear. Simply in thin air, vanish. 

“Shit… invisible chick.” He bit his lip. Maybe he could do with some more practice. And Finn wouldn’t mind if he stopped a little burglary, would he? After all, what kind of hero, or even citizen would he be if he simply allowed this woman to stroll into one of his favorite stores and steal something? Plus, explosives were in there. He was just being reasonable he told himself, as he pulled an arrow from his quiver, already ready with a zip line arrowhead on it. He shot it into the brick of the building next to the surplus store so that she wouldn’t know he was coming and used his bow to zip line down to street level. 

He took the same way up that she did, seeing that she left the window open as an escape route and pulled himself up easily, only breathing a little heavily from his month of near inactivity. He saw that the room was dark, which he figured it would be. He took a look around, arrow already drawn, when he turned the corner, he saw her hair again. She seemed to be looking through some equipment, some old army boots clutched in her hand. 

“I don’t think those are really your size.”

He watched her tense up, smiling to himself that he was able to sneak up on her. She turned around and he was momentarily struck dumb by her beauty. Blonde hair, an easy grin and eyes that seemed to sparkle despite an arrow pointed directly at her. 

“And I believe your weapon is a couple hundred years out of date.”

“Not how I use it.”

She gave him a grin. “All men say that.”

He felt his lip quirk up in a smirk by itself at her comment. “True enough. Wanna tell me what a bad chick like you is doing in a nice place like this?”

“Stealing. You?”

He chuckled. “I’m the kind of person that you lie to about that kind of stuff. Though you are saving us some time, so.”

She still looked relaxed, placing the boots down. “Oh, I know who you are Johnny Gargano.” If she was expecting him to flinch from hearing his true name, he didn’t. His actual name wasn’t unknown. He barely used his old hero moniker of Trueshot anymore. “And, I thought you were kicked off the team.”

“Eh, it’s just a bit of a lover’s spat. Plus, doesn’t help that you robbed the place right across the street from me. Really should do your research a bit better.”

“Well, even if I had, I’d have risked it.” He watched her eyes light up. “I believe I’ll be taking those boxes behind you.”

Johnny didn’t look behind him. That’d be stupid. “I’m guessing guns and ammo? I know you can turn invisible, I’m not that stupid.”

She pouted at him. “Aw, don’t want to play with me?”

Her tone was flirty, but he simply smirked. Two could play at that game. “If I met you in a bar, or on the street I’d be more than happy to play any game you want. Sadly, had to catch you breaking the law.”

She looked surprised that he had responded in kind, her interest piqued. She glared, now getting frustrated that she wasn’t able to distract or fluster him. “Oh? Are blonde’s your type? I thought it was bearded strongmen.” 

His heart skipped a beat at the mention of Tommaso. He felt his grip slacken for a moment and it was all it took for her to disappear. He cursed and backed up against the boxes behind him. He believed her when she said that they were what she was here for. He knew she’d have to come through him to get to them. He felt wind rustle as her fist came swinging from the right. He ducked and swung his bow out, hearing it thud against her ribs. Little did he know that that was the last hit on her he’d get that night. Soon legs and fists were flying from each direction and it took all of his concentration not to get caught the wrong way with em. Finally, she was able to get a lucky shot into his ribs, causing him to drop his guard. She wound her arms through his, pushing his bow up against his throat and pinning him to the boxes. 

Soon she made her face visible again and she was close. Very close. He pushed against her, shocked that he couldn’t overpower her hold. She grinned at him. “You’re very good, Mr. Gargano, but I think I’ll be taking what I need. I’m sorry we had to meet this way, but I really need this pay day. I hope you’ll understand.”

He grunted. “Oh, I get it. But don’t think that there won’t be a round two Ms…”

“LeRae. Candace LeRae. And oh, you know I like a man that can go more than one round.” She teased lightly. 

“Must be a pretty good thief if you’re giving me your name.”

“Well, I just happen to have a very high opinion of myself.” She then leaned in, her voice whispering huskily in his ear, enough to send shivers through him. “I’ll give you an A for effort though.” With that she kissed his cheek before something collided with the side of his head and he saw black.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Johnny goes to some old friends, hoping to find out where Candace is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize to everyone following my stories that are unfinished, but I was not feeling inspired to write at all, but I am feeling a bit better about it and will be hopefully posting again. I wanna work on finishing my Super hero AU and my Hellblazer/Supergirl/Arrow crossover, but I can hopefully get some one shots out there into the Universe as well! I hope you enjoy this! I'm back!

Waking up on the fire escape was way less comfortable than waking up in your own bed, Johnny found out the next morning. Apparently, him letting it slip that he lived next door had been a short-sighted decision as Candace had saw fit to apparently carry him and place him on the fire escape outside his apartment window. She’d even left a whimsical post it note, no idea where she’d gotten that, (Did she fucking carry them around with her?) that pictured a smiling cupcake sticking it’s tongue out at him. He wasn’t well versed in emojis but he assumed it was insulting.

He went inside, and after drinking an entire pot of coffee he had determined that catching Candace was now top priority. There must be vengeance now that there were insulting cupcakes being used. He must be victorious. Tracking her down would be easier thought of than done, as he found when he tried to boot up his computer, which was about seven years old, and it promptly died. He sighed and slammed the lid before throwing it to the side. He figured that even if his stupid laptop would turn on he would have issues tracking a girl that could literally turn invisible. He didn’t have that technological capability here, not like he used to at the Sentinel building.

He sighed and rested his head back. He felt his phone buzz, raised it up to look at the screen and saw Finn’s name. He watched it for a second. Debating if he should grovel a bit and maybe Finn would look it up to him. Then he thought about the forced sabbatical and frowned. He hit ignore and tucked it away. The Sentinels were no help now; he didn’t want their help anyway. He could do this his way. He was somebody before them and he managed stuff like this all the time. 

And that’s how he found himself looking at the sign for Trent and Chuck’s Computer Wonderporium. He smirked at the name, knowing that really it’s just an excused for Chuck and Trent to pretend to have jobs while doing precisely nothing except watching dog videos. Before he’d gotten the invite to join the Sentinel’s Johnny had been several things. He’d been a boy scout as a kid, learned a ton of survival shit from that, and then he’d been an Olympic archer next. After that, he’d been sought after by a couple government agencies, but none really took. And finally he’d fallen in love with Tommaso. Then they’d started going out on the street together and saving people, before the Sentinels had called and things went south. 

But, the point of going back down that dark path again was that, when Tommaso and he needed information or tech help, they’d come to Chuck and Trent. Johnny honestly couldn’t remember where or how they’d met; they just seemed to have always been a part of his life. They’d always been there for him, even after the break up, though their form of comfort was bad jokes and the aforementioned dog videos. But it was the thought that counted.

He pushed open the door of their shop and saw that, as usual, there were few customers, and bored teenagers were helping the ones that were there. He bypassed them all and moved towards the back. He was a frequent visitor though he never bought anything. If any of the employees didn’t know him, he knew that it’d throw them off that he acted like he belonged there, so he simply continued into the back room where his friends were.

As usual, they were sitting at their back-to-back computer desks, clicking away and slacking off. Johnny rolled his eyes and cleared his throat. They both turned to him, Trent with some noodles hanging out of his mouth from where he’d been taking a bite of his ramen. “John?”

“Hey. I need your help finding someone.” Johnny moved into the room and pulled up a chair, not expecting an argument from either of his friends. That is, until he noticed the look they shared over his head.

“Its not good to be a stalker. You gotta let this thing with Tommaso go, dude.”

Johnny felt himself blush. “Its not that. Some invisible chick stole some shit from the army surplus store by my apartment. We fought. I want to find her.”

“She hot?” He turned to shoot a glare at Chuck who didn’t look apologetic. “Hey, if you want us to look for her then we need to know what she looks like.”

Johnny sighed and nodded. “Yeah, she’s attractive. Blonde, almost white hair. She had training whoever she is. Maybe former CIA or something? You can hack into them, right?”

Trent was already spinning back to his computer, “Easy. Their firewalls are like kindergarteners did it. You didn’t get her name?”

Johnny winced, “I did, but it might not be the name in their system or the one she gave me might be the fake. Candace LeRae.”

Trent pulled up a couple more windows, too fast for Johnny’s eyes to follow before clicking on a file. “I have a couple mentions in missions reports of her, never worked for the agency though; just a couple police reports of a girl going missing a couple decades ago. Parents were found murdered pretty brutally in the house, looks like tortured.” Johnny saw a couple crime scene photos and winced. “The police thought that the girl had escaped or was taken, but they never found anything.”

Chuck piped up from behind them and Johnny swiveled around to his screen. “I pulled up your descriptors and we have a couple of reports on her interfering with some spy missions the last ten years or so. Looks like she would leave quite an impression on everyone she came across. Doesn’t look like she ever killed anyone though, must be more thief and spy than assassin. CIA has a standing APB on someone matching her description too. What the hell did you get into, Johnny?”

“Hell if I know. I just need to stop her before she takes the guns and ammo and sells them to the highest bidder. The streets are already a blood bath with Punk and his crew out shooting anything that even smokes a joint, but giving the other guys bigger guns isn’t going to make anything better.”

Johnny stood up and looked at both of them. “I need to find her, can you guys get some cams on it and let me know if you spot her.”

Chuck and Trent shrugged and nodded. “Sure. You doing this yourself or is this for the Sentinels?”

“Screw the Sentinels. I was on my own before them, and I’ll show them how much they’ve been misusing me by bringing in LeRae and hopefully saving some lives.”

Trent and Chuck looked at each other again and then back at Johnny. “You so like her.” They both grinned at him as they said it.

Johnny fought the blush as he stormed out under their chorus of laughs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kinda short I know, but hopefully this will hold you over until the next one! I'm back I hope!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A game of cat and mouse ensues along with some mysteries solved.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, the girlfriend situation is no longer there :( but my crushing grief and sadness shall not stop me from posting! I shall work through it! Here is chapter 3! Hope you like it!

“Come here often?”

Johnny let himself have a smug smirk as his arrow was pointed at Candace’s back. He had seen her tense, not realizing that he was here with her. It felt good to have one-upped her, though he was sure she was already formulating some sort of plan to ditch him. Not that he’d allow that to work if he could help it. They’d been doing this cat and mouse thing for a month now and he’d managed to track her down almost every night. She always managed to get away, but they seemed to be getting tougher and tougher to manage for her and she was slowly starting to take him seriously. There were a couple of ways Johnny knew how to seduce women, apparently stalking only did if they were crazy invisible super spies, but as long as it was working.

“How did you find me?”

“Maybe you aren’t as good as you think you are. Maybe I did a Google search. Who are you working for and why?”

She finally turned around, blonde hair trailing nicely down her shoulder as she smiled. “You know, I’m more and more impressed every day. I think you’ve earned a clue or three. Some cocky little shit with a blonde streak in his hair said a gang war was coming to the streets. He heard about me from a previous employer and wanted me to arm his troops in case the worst happened.” She rolled her eyes, as if this thought annoyed her.

Johnny growled. “You’re working for Seth fucking Rollins? He’s a crazy murdering speedster at the top of the most wanted list! He’s killed tons of civilians! Don’t you see anything wrong with that?”

Candace paused for a second, looking a little rattled at that. “Of course I do! This is the life I was forced into and I need money to-“ Her eyes widened and she cut herself off. “God, your stupid innocent face makes me want to blab everything!” She shot towards him and disappeared. Johnny had expected this and shot his arrow into the ground, letting the baking powder puff out in a wide arc around him. It was a new invention of his that he worked on when he wasn’t chasing her. Had to come up with something new to get ahead of her, he just hoped this plan worked.

He saw movement through the dust as she was coated with it. He grinned and tried to shoot her with a taser arrow to bring her down for good. But, she was only caught off guard for a moment and swung herself at him. As he brought his hands up to block her, she caught his wrists and used that upward motion to spring past him and behind him. She shot out the door and into the night before he could even fully turn around.

Johnny shook his head, dislodging the baking powder that he’d covered himself with as well and sighed. “Dammit.”

 

Candace continued to wring out her hair as she stood on one side of the room; Seth Rollins stood on the other. His blank, hard stare shot right through her. “You failed.”

“Hardly. I simply didn’t know that he’d find me that easily. I still got the ammo and weapons from my second hit of the night.”

Seth didn’t seem to budge. “So you got careless, by your own admission. Admit it, you don’t have what it takes here anymore.”

She scoffed. “Says daddy’s new favorite plaything. He’ll use you up and throw you out, like he’s done to the guy before you. I seem to stick around no matter what.”

Seth didn’t even wince. “And that’s what you want? Cause it always seems like you’re just working to get away from him. After he saved you.”

Candace stiffened but said nothing. Seth just simply continued. “He murders your parents and takes you for the raw talent, trains you to be a thief and a killer, turning you from nothing and into something better, and not only have you never killed anyone, but you consistently find loopholes in his missions for you. You ask for money instead of doing it out of gratefulness that he even gave you the time of day.”

“Enough, Seth.”

Candace spun and saw the bald head and beard of Hunter standing behind them in a suit. “Candace has been consistent for our group. Even when she fails she somehow succeeds.” He turned his gaze to her and looked her over. “The archer again, huh? I’ve tried to have the team invite him back, but he refuses to pick up any calls. Seems you’ve got an admirer and he won’t stop until he has you.”

Candace willed herself to fight off the blush that was rising. She knew she wasn’t supposed to speak out of turn with him or she’d be punished severely. It’d happened enough when she was younger and if Candace knew one thing, it was that Hunter was still mostly human. And she could manipulate humans. Hunter clapped her on the shoulder in what she used to think was support and now just felt like a clamp she couldn’t escape from. He pulled his hand off and looked at the baking powder that now covered it distastefully.

“The big sell goes down tomorrow night. I want to make sure that archer doesn’t make an appearance. We already have enough to worry about with Spitfire and Punk’s crew breathing down our necks. Take care of him Candace, and make sure he doesn’t show.”

He stepped by her and clapped Seth on the shoulder, making him walk with him, whispering. She sighed and turned back towards the exit. It looks like her night wasn’t done.

 

Johnny listened hard, tuning in to the feed of the nanobots he’d hidden in the baking powder. It had taken him a while to get home and the untested nanobots had horrible sound quality and it took him forever to match frequencies. He just had gotten it to where he could hear the distorted voices clearly enough to make out the words, but not enough for voice recognition. It sounded like a man’s voice.

“After this sell, she’s going to expect to be paid and after that we both know she will be gone. She’s grown soft since meeting that Joey contact of hers and having a friend and it’s only gotten worse since she and this archer started dueling each night. We can’t allow her to leave that meeting. Do you understand?”

Johnny felt his heart drop into his stomach. They were going to betray and kill Candace. As annoying as she was Johnny couldn’t imagine life without her now. Their little sparring sessions were the high points of his day, even if she always won, he enjoyed them. He sat on his couch with a mug of coffee, his place a little more picked up, but still messy with the map of the entire city on his wall with places marked that she might hit next. 

He polished off his coffee and stood up. He needed to figure out where the meeting was and stop Candace from getting more involved with this than she already was. He felt his phone buzz as he walked into the kitchen to put his mug away. He tugged it out of his sweatpants and looked at the Caller ID. It was Trent called and he sighed, answering. “I don’t care about what your dog did, Trent.”

“Um… it’s not about that, but wow, harsh. I just wanted to let you know, we got a ping on facial recognition for your girl again.”

“She’s going after another place tonight?” Johnny frowned, that didn’t sound like her.

“Well that’s the thing. We got it on a street camera near a place she already sacked once. The old army surplus store on-“ Johnny straightened and turned around, only to see a familiar map of blonde hair lounging on his couch. 

Candace gave him a smirk. “Hey there, Arrow boy. Not too much fun when people drop by unannounced, is it?” 

Johnny’s mind had a knack for summing a situation up and letting him know in a few words how he felt about it. This time, all that ran through his mind was: Well, shit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ooooh am I right? This is wrapping up nicely, shouldn't be more than a couple more chapters and then the next installment in the series! Next update hopefully later this week!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Johnny's apartment was not prepared for visitors, especially pretty blonde ones at a really late hour.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, one or two more chapters left to go! I think I can do a really long one to end this story, but I might break it down in two if I think it feels weird! I hope you like this one though, it was really fun to write!

Johnny watched Candace walk around his apartment, taking in everything. “Wow, a lot cleaner than I figured you’d be.” Johnny frowned at the insult noting that his apartment was very much a mess as it currently sat. 

“Why are you here? I was just listening in on your buddies and they seemed to be pretty content for the buy that’s happening tomorrow. Something is apparently coming and Seth looks to be trying to buy some good faith from the local creeps and assholes in our community.”

Candace didn’t look phased. “It was the powder, wasn’t it? I knew that couldn’t be all it was on the surface, especially for you to break it out so early in the fight.” She sighed, “The boss seems to think that something big is coming and we’d need to be ready.”

Johnny moved to sit on the couch, unsure what her game was. “Why do you do this? I researched you. You were an orphan and disappeared off the map, you’ve been shadowing CIA operatives somehow, and you’re a cat burglar for Seth fucking Rollins. I don’t get how it all matches up… or why you don’t use that ability of yours to do some good.”

She chuckled, keeping her back to him. “I was little when they killed my parents. I was a young powered child, didn’t know what to do but survive, so I just did what they told me. By the time I had any mastery over it and could do what I can do, I was too far gone to be a hero. I just survived and hoped someday I could get away from them. “

This made Johnny stood up and made his way to her, reaching a tentative hand over to her shoulder and gently touched her. She tensed up, but relaxed a few seconds later. “You’re a good person, Candace. I can tell.”

She laughed, though it sounded hollow to his ears, and shook his hand off. “Exactly the reason you’ve been chasing me down and trying to put me in jail, huh Arrow boy?” 

Johnny flushed and pushed a hand through his hair. “It started out like that sure, but… I’ve known that you could be better than what you are now for a while. You just need some help.”

“I don’t need your pity. Why couldn’t you have stayed out of it! Sure, the first few times were flirty and fun.” She ranted, not even really paying attention that he was still right in front of her. “But then, you started to actually interfere and cause problems and now you’re on some very bad people’s radar. You’re an idiot, and now that’s gonna be on my conscience if you get yourself killed trying to “save” me.” She used air quotes and scoffed at him.

“I’m not the kind of guy that just sits back when a friend of mine is in trouble. You can save yourself, I’m just trying to remind you that the only thing stopping you is yourself.” 

“You don’t know my situation, Johnny. You can’t say that.” She folded her arms under her chest and looked anywhere but at him. But he could see the little flash of hope in her eyes before being swallowed by a saddened acceptance.

“Maybe I don’t know everything about it, but you can turn freaking invisible and I’ll be here to help however I can. The first thing we can do is stopping that weapons sale.”

“They’ll kill you, Johnny. And, as annoying as you are, that can’t happen. That’s what they sent me here to do, you know?”

He felt his heart stop as he took a step back. “And, uh, are you?”

Candace took a step forward, making him step back. This repeated again and again until Johnny felt his back hit the wall behind him. Candace still stepped further into his space until they were sharing each other’s breath.

“No.” She whispered. “I don’t think I could. That stupid innocent face would be too hard to look at and pull the trigger.” Her breath was husky and she smelled so nice, Johnny couldn’t help himself. He leaned forward and captured her lips on his. She let out a surprised sigh before melting into it and pushing back against him.

He would have loved to have had some grand moment of realization and thoughts of love, but really, as soon as their lips connected his mind just went blank. He felt the pressure of her lips on his and that was really it. They were so soft and it was all he could do to simply keep his knees from giving out.

Finally after what felt like forever, she pulled back and leaned her head against his. “Wow…”

He nodded his head and breathed out. “I know.” He hated how breathless he also sounded, but he wasn’t going to let it ruin this moment. “Candace, I’m here for you. I can help you get out of this life. Just tell me how.”

She pulled pack and gave him a sad smile. “You can help by staying out of it. I’m handling it and after this… I can finally go off and leave all the hero and villain stuff behind.”

Johnny tried not to let the hurt show on his face. “Even me?”

“Johnny, the reason I’m doing this is to make sure that I don’t ruin your life… so when I’m gone, I can see you doing the good you’ve always done and just the thought that I kept you from killing yourself for me… maybe that’ll be enough to balance out all the bad I’ve done.”

“I told you… I’m not sitting this one out.” Johnny reached forward to take her hand, push her hair back behind her ear, or do something, but he couldn’t seem to move his arm. He willed his legs to step forward and do something, but he couldn’t feel them. Candace was the only thing still holding him up and he felt like dead weight in her arms. She smiled at him sadly and gently eased him to a sitting position on the floor. His mind screamed at him for being an idiot and not noticing the different shade of lipstick coating her lips. Some kind of paralytic agent he assumed had him now on the floor with his back against the wall.

“That’s why I’m not giving you a choice. I’m sorry, Johnny. It’s better for everyone, including you, if this goes down tonight and then I disappear to live out my life as a nobody.” Johnny tried to speak, but he couldn’t make his jaw work so Candace crouched in front of him with what looked like tears in her eyes. “You were right that first night, you know? Maybe in a different life, different circumstances, this could have been something amazing.” 

Johnny’s vision started to go a bit hazy as she blurred in front of him. She leaned down and he felt her lips press against his forehead before her blurry shape stood in front of him and walked towards his fire escape. The last thing he heard was a whispered ‘goodbye’ that made it sound as if she was holding back tears. He was out before the lock on his window clicked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Awww, these two! Am I right?


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The fight, and it's time for Candace to make a decision. Survive or be a hero.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Second to last chapter! Epilogue next chapter to wrap it up! I hope you like it!

Candace sat back in the warehouse as Seth Rollins oversaw some henchmen carrying boxes full of guns and ammo. As they filtered more and more of the boxes outside, Hunter came up behind her chair and looked out over some of his vast empire. “The Archer won’t be a problem?”

Candace sighed, her mind flashing back to Johnny’s betrayed and confused face, yesterday. “Not at all. I took care of it.”

“Good. This should go well then. Seth!” Rollins looked up and in a flash he was in front of them. “You’ll oversee this.”

Candace snapped her gaze up to him. “You aren’t staying?”

She immediately regretted it when his eyes bore through her for talking out of turn. But it seemed to pass and he answered her. “No. I have other things to do. It’s a simple weapons sale. Let Seth handle it, and he’ll hand you your share after it’s completed.”

She nodded and tried not to act any differently than she would normally when getting paid. She didn’t need them to know that she’d be gone after this. The amount of money she’d get, added with what she’d already saved up would be enough to get her to any country she wanted and to get a new name and a new life started away from all this bullshit. It didn’t matter that it hurt to think about now, when there wasn’t some goofy archer there to annoy her. She’d have time to sulk about that later though, for now, she just needed her game face on.

Hunter clapped Seth on the shoulder and walked off into the dark. Seth looked at her and glared. “Don’t fuck this up, we both know something bad is coming and this needs to happen. Let me handle it. You stay here.” And with that he left. She rolled her eyes. She didn’t exactly want to be out there in the first place.

She placed her chin in her hand while her elbow rested on her knee and waited. After about a half an hour, she saw several SUVs pull up to the building and the doors open. She sighed, knowing that these things could take a long time, so she leaned back and closed her eyes, only for them to start back open when she felt a familiar hand grip her shoulder. She spun around, knowing to keep quiet and came face to face with her archer. 

“What’s a nice girl like you doing in a place like this?” He grinned at her, all decked out in his gear. A black, sleeveless leather vest, showing off his amazing arms, and thick, military like pants tucked into combat boots. His quiver, stocked full with arrows on his back and his bow in his right hand.

She kept her voice down. “How are you here!? That should have kept you out of it for a least three days!”

The twinkle in his eyes was absolutely sinful as he continued that irritating smirk. “Well, my stamina is just better that you expected.” At her, most likely, murderous look, he chuckled. “I can’t reveal all my secrets, that wouldn’t be fun.” His face turned serious. “You need to leave. I didn’t get a chance to tell you last night cause some bitch knocked me out with paralytic lipstick, but your boss and Seth aren’t giving you money for this. They think you’ll run, so they’re going to kill you instead. Tough break.”

She felt her heart stop. “That can’t be true. I’ve kept it a secret that I’m ghosting… they couldn’t know.” 

He shrugged, obviously not thinking much of it. “Maybe your boss just knows you better than you thought.” He spared a glance up and winced. “If you don’t believe me, check out the light bulbs.”

She glanced up and cursed. “UV bulbs… my invisibility will be useless in here if those turn on.”

“And I really hate to pile on the bad news, but on my way here, I did a bit of a perimeter check and you’ve got some company. Punk and his crew are staking it out. They’ll kill anyone that goes out and once the deal is over they’ll kill everyone here too.”

Candace frowned. “If you saw that and you came here anyway… how are you getting out?”

Johnny didn’t seem to hear her, already picking out his first few arrows. “So, I’m gonna go out there, start some shit, and you’ll be able to sneak through with your invisibility.”

She grabbed his shoulder and turned him around. “But what about you?” She tried not to sound angry, he was giving her a great way out and old her would have just taken it. Survival was the name of the game, and this was the golden ticket out of a sticky situation. But suddenly she seemed to care about other people now. She wasn’t sure she liked that very much; it might end up getting her killed.

He gave her a cheeky smile in response. “I’ve been in worse situations than this. I’ll just use the confusion to slip out.” Candace didn’t need spy training to know that those were both lies. Johnny expected to die in order to give her a chance to escape. What a dummy. 

She opened her mouth to tell him such, but instead he wrapped his bow around her waist, pulled her in, and pressed his lips hard into her. She melted and cupped his face between her hands and pressed back against him. He gave her one last charming smile before turning. “Go, the window I used should still be clear, and once the fighting starts Punk and his team should be distracted enough for you to slip out. Time for Johnny to steal the spotlight.”

Before she could say anything in argument, the first arrow was loosed into the door blocking them from the deal outside. It beeped twice and exploded outwards, showering the outside with debris. Candace barely had time to duck behind some boxes before Johnny, armed with just his bow and another arrow knocked, charged outside into the hail of gunfire that started. She bit her lip, looking up at the inviting open window that Johnny had used, her mind whirling on what to do…

 

As soon as the first bullet struck him in the arm, Johnny knew that this was most likely not going to end well. He ignored the burning in his arm and released a couple more arrows to follow the few that he’d sent out on his initial charge, watching them take their effect on the collected gangbangers. A couple regular arrows went through their arms and took them down, while a taser arrow fried an unlucky one as he slumped back into a SUV. However, the gunfire didn’t die down, instead it increased even more as bullets rang from the rooftops. Punk had arrived. Johnny could just barely see him on the rooftop, cloaked in shadow as he used a heavy sub machine gun to spray and pray, turning the small square meeting place into a meat grinder.

Johnny didn’t have to look when he saw the purple lightning arcing off the roof to his right to know that a soul or two had crossed over thanks to the Boss and her fury. He crouched behind a crate and breathed in and out. He stood up, hoping to find Rollins in this mess, if he hadn’t already. He popped up and in only the few seconds of a view that it afforded him, he caught that the crooks were scattered and trying to retreat. He caught a few more in the legs and such, and even fired up a few arrows at the deadly vigilante team, though the ones that struck only hit the duplicates of AJ Lee as they giggled and disappeared, all the while the other numerous duplicates and the real one stabbed men in the back and slit their throats before fading away into the blackness.

He saw movement to his side, and before he could swing around and aim, he was hit in the jaw, sending him careening sideways into the brick wall down one of the alleys, luckily out of sight of Punk and his cronies, but with Seth Rollins staring down at him with the calm, deadly look in his eyes, he’s not sure which way he would have been better to go out.

“I see Candace couldn’t go through with it after all. Shame, it probably wouldn’t have been as painful if she’d done it.”

Johnny tried for his best infuriating smirk towards the speedster. “Yeah, she’s too pretty to hit. Luckily, someone messed up your ugly mug a while ago so I don’t feel as bad.” He only saw the outrage for a second before it was a blur and he was struck again, stars appearing in his vision as he pushed himself up. He’d landed far enough away that he had a pretty decent view of the surrounding alley. He pushed himself up into a handstand and leapt back onto a box, giving him the height advantage. 

He took aim while Seth just stood there arrogantly. “You can’t hit me with that useless thing.”

Johnny didn’t even flinch, aiming his arrow at his smug face and letting the bowstring go. Seth simply stepped out of the way and it sunk into the wall behind him. “You missed.”

He grinned, “Nope.” Right before the flash bang attached to the arrow sounded from behind Seth, stunning him. Johnny leapt off the box and kicked out, striking Rollins across the cheek. He pulled back taking aim with another arrow. “I don’t miss.” He fired two more regular arrows, one sinking into Seth’s arm and the other into his shoulder. 

Seth gasped out in pain before dashing forward and shoving Johnny back. He used that momentum to roll, reaching for an arrow. He cursed as his hand only came into contact with one. He grabbed it anyway, stringing it and letting it go from his knees. His eyes guiding his movements as this arrow slid under the arm of Seth and off into the alley. 

Seth grinned, pulling both arrows out of his shoulders. His hand vibrated, ready to go through Johnny’s heart. “I thought you don’t miss.” He stepped closer, as Johnny threw his bow around to try to knock him out in a last ditch effort, but Seth’s boot lashed out and kicked his bow away from him before stomping his face. Johnny felt his nose crunch and knew that in a moment that’d be the least of his concern, but dammit if it didn’t hurt. 

Seth stood over him, both now a bloody mess, and leaned closer. Before he could lean any closer, Johnny watched him cry out and fall to the side as his arrow pushed through from the back of his knee. It was roughly pulled out from behind again, pulling a girlish yelp from Rollins. He rolled to the side and looked at Johnny with fear in his eyes, wondering how he could have done that. Johnny could only wheeze out a laugh, thanking his gut for actually being right. “Told you, I don’t miss.” 

Candace appeared in front of Johnny. Hip cocked to the side and arms folded over defiantly, though the bloody arrow sat across her folded arms. “You’re welcome for not making you a liar, Arrow boy.” Seth simply growled at them before looking to the side to the bloodbath that took place under his watch. He sped away without further comment, though noticeably slower than he had been moving before hand.

Johnny slumped back and groaned. “Ow… my everything hurts.”

Candace came and crouched over him. “Stop whining, you big baby. You’re an idiot, thinking I’d leave you here alone. Or did you count on that.” She seemed genuinely curious as to what his thought process was. In truth, he actually thought she’d take the out.

Johnny shrugged. “I was good either way, but I think I hoped you’d like me a little too much to die.” Which was also true, he learned as soon as he said it. He really had hoped she’d stay by his side and back him up.

She hummed, “Uh huh.” Making him chuckle at her lack of explanation. He heard a cackle from behind him and saw a great wave of flame and winced. “This is getting crazy if Ambrose is here now. We need to get out of here. I’m not sure I can take on anymore regular people, let alone super powers.” She nodded and helped him up rather easily. They followed the alley down the opposite way, hoping that Punk and his group would be tangling with Ambrose and his and not looking for stragglers making an escape. Johnny could have cried in relief when he saw his apartment. She helped him up the stairs and pushed the door open, dragging him over to the couch, which he sank onto with a groan.

 

He laid down on it to her whispered voice, and felt her fingers run through his hair. In short order, she’d pushed his nose back in place and taped it, cleaned and bandaged the bullet wound on his arm, and given him pain medication. Now, they sat watching television as she continued to whisper nonsensical but comforting things to him. It didn’t take long for him to fall asleep sitting up and be lost to the world, only floating in his dream space filled with her voice and her perfume.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think. Comments mean an amazing amount to me to keep going!


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The morning after...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally after like half a year it's done! Don't worry, I won't wait long before posting the next one in the series I swear! Next one will be tying up the Baron Corbin thread and then... well it's off to the races ;)

Johnny woke up the next morning hurting all over, but rested for what felt like the first time in years. After opening his eyes, it was easy to see why. Candace was wrapped around him on his bed, having most likely carried him from the couch to the bed and fallen asleep, gripping him like a Koala. He was going to figure out how she was so strong at another time. He smiled, his free arm coming up and stroking through her hair. He chuckled when she shifted and hummed out contentedly. 

He took stock of his body, and his face hurt. The broken nose was going to take a bit of time to heal, he knew from experience. His gunshot wound ached, though it was rather minor, but the rest of his body was just sore from the fight, so all seemed good. He pressed her close, kissed the top of her hair, and slipped out from under her. He looked back over her to make sure he hadn’t woken her up only to see her frown, grab his pillow, and roll back over to the other side of the bed. He grinned dopily at that before ambling his way towards the kitchen to make them some breakfast.

His living room and kitchen had done a complete one-eighty from how it had been the previous night. It was… well, clean. Candace must have still been brimming with left over energy and adrenaline and had picked up. And there, sitting clear as day on the now washed and clean kitchen counter was a tray of fresh cupcakes. A small post it note was stuck to the side of the tray, a small smiley face next to a heart. Johnny couldn’t stop the dopey grin from coming back to his face, not that he wanted to ever mask how she made him feel. Candace was just amazing. He would thank her for picking up and taking care of him with some breakfast in bed and then they probably still needed to talk about what was next, but for right now, this was enough.

He got all the supplies out for eggs, put the coffee on, and plugged in the toaster. He was watching the coffee drip down as the eggs sizzled when his phone buzzed on the counter. He looked over and saw Finn’s name on the caller ID, as well as a notification for seven other missed calls from him; he winced. Had he really been that focused on Candace that he’d been ignoring everything else that much? 

He grabbed it and cleared his throat. “Hello?”

“Finally. Where the hell have you been?” Finn sounded somewhere between irritated and relieved. 

Johnny chuckled nervously. “You know, just around. Figuring out what to do with my free time. Trying some new hobbies.” He turned around, leaning against the counter to see Candace wide-awake and smirking at him from the doorway to his bedroom. He winked at her before continuing. “Some blind dates, that kind of thing.”

Finn huffed amused, “Well, I’m glad you kept yourself busy, but I was trying to call you and tell you that you’re cleared. You can come back as of two days ago.” He was obviously pleased at this news, saying it as if it was some grand reveal.

Johnny frowned. This is what he had wanted in the very beginning. He wanted a team, a support system, recognition, or at least something that he could showcase his skills and make a difference in the world. But, he’d been a different person a month ago and now he had a choice to make. He could go back to where he’d be stable, they’d put him on sniper and over watch duty saving the earth alongside the celebrities of the superhero world, or he could lean into the unstable life he’d found for himself with a crazy spy chick that he was falling head over heels for, and they could walk into that uncertain future together, no matter where it led. The choice was rather simple for his mind to make.

“See, the thing is, I’ve done a lot of thinking, Finn, and, uh, I quit. I just don’t think I fit there anymore.” 

He watched a beautiful smile bloom on Candace’s face across the room, stalking towards him now. His whole attention now on her, she was really distracting. Hopefully that’d die off a bit over the next few weeks so he could function like a normal human being. He didn’t even hear what Finn said in response as he simply hit the end call button and placed his phone down on the counter, his hands shooting forward to grab her hips and pull them in close to his own. He caught her lips half way up to meet his and hummed in delight. She pulled back and grinned at him. 

“Mm, morning.” She paused, looking at the phone. “All taken care of?”

“Yep. Looks like it’s just you and me for the next little bit.”

She grinned. “I like the sound of that.” She tilted her head cutely and her grin turned into a smirk. “Something burning, Arrow boy?”

He winced and looked over at the ruined eggs. “Awww, eggs, no…”

Her giggles filling the space of his apartment were a sound that he could grow very used to. And he hoped he would.

 

Becky removed her goggles, pushing her orange hair out of the way as she stood on the rooftop. Dean was on the next one over and she was beginning to get frustrated. After they’d sent Punk, AJ, and Sasha running last night, saving the guys they could, tying up the others, and calling the cops, Willow had disappeared. They didn’t want to think the worst, as he was a teleporter and could get out of most things fine, but it’d been a little bit so now they were searching for him.

Dean waved her down and she pushed flames from her palms, shooting herself over the gap between the rooftops to land next to him. She saw Willow there, crouched on the corner of the building watching something. Becky raised an eyebrow at Dean who just shrugged. Becky decided to take a shot.

“Willow? Jeff? What’s up, buddy?”

Willow turned his head back and gave her a sickly grin before turning back towards where he’d been watching. She huffed. “Not helpful. What are you looking at?”

Willow pointed. Down below them, limping across the abandoned street was a couple, the girl supporting an injured male, still gripping a large bow. Becky recognized him. Johnny Gargano from the Sentinels. Had they been back at that warehouse too? She watched them head to an apartment building and look around for a moment before heading into it and disappearing. Soon enough a light near the top floor came on and Becky could see them crash down onto the couch. 

Jeff giggled his Willow laugh and looked back at them. “Friends.”

Becky looked at Dean who shrugged. “I mean… if they were there, it’d explain why we saw Seth moving out of there slower than usual… maybe they’d be nice to have around, or at least ask.”

She nodded and watched the blonde start helping Johnny with his broken nose, looking at him lovingly, and touching tenderly around his injured area. Becky felt herself wanting to ‘awww’ very loudly, but restrained herself. “Let’s give them a few days to recover and rest before we surprise them. Who knows what they’ll say.”

Willow giggled loudly again, “Friends!” 

Dean looked down at Willow and chuckled, “Hopefully you’re right, buddy. Could be an interesting combo to add…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked this story. Comments give me life so please leave one to tell me stuff!

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you think! Next chapter will be up eventually!


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